'Shameful': national work-with-kids system long overdue
State and federal ministers have been scrambling to fast-track reforms to Australia's childcare sector after it was revealed on Tuesday a Melbourne carer was charged with more than 70 sex offences.
Joshua Dale Brown allegedly abused eight children aged under two at a Point Cook facility in the city's southwest from April 2022 to January 2023.
The 26-year-old, who had a valid working with children clearance, was not known to police or subject to any complaints before his arrest in May.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called on the federal government in 2015 to "facilitate a national model" for working with children checks.
Robert Fitzgerald, one of five members of the royal commission, said the recommendation remained unfulfilled.
"My view is that is shameful," the now-age discrimination commissioner told AAP.
"Ten years on, that job should have been completed and the fact that it isn't means there are gaps in our child safeguarding regime."
Every state and territory maintains separate working with children schemes with different rules and requirements.
Victoria, Queensland and NSW have all committed to reviewing or tightening up their regimes.
Uniform schemes would not completely negate the risk of child sexual abuse but would be an important first step, Mr Fitzgerald argued.
A 2022 Victorian ombudsman report exposed "serious flaws" in the state's scheme after former Melbourne City Mission worker Alexander Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2018.
Jones was investigated for multiple alleged sexual offences in NSW but granted a permit in Victoria because his national police check was clean, as he had not been charged.
It remains the case that people under investigation for serious offences can hold a working with children check in Victoria.
Only criminal charges or a regulatory finding can lead to it being revoked.
Strengthening working with children checks will also be discussed at a meeting of state and federal attorneys-general in August.
Victoria's Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn said national reform work was "frustratingly slow".
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare described the system as complicated but conceded the reforms have taken "too bloody long".
Fellow senior frontbencher Clare O'Neil said she didn't have a good answer for why the royal commission's recommendations had been left on the shelf.
"A lot of these predators would pass a working with children check," she said.
The crisis has also cast a spotlight on educator-to-child ratios across the country.
The ratios do not require more than one carer to be around a child or group at any given time, unlike the Netherlands' "four eyes" principle.
A father whose two children attended the Point Cook childcare centre wants CCTV installed throughout the facility and questioned the lack of staff supervision.
"There should also be two people there at all times," said Satbir, who didn't want his surname included.
NSW has flagged a trial of CCTV cameras in centres, while an urgent Victorian review is looking at making the technology mandatory.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
A former royal commissioner has rebuked governments for dragging their feet on creating a national regime for working with children checks.
State and federal ministers have been scrambling to fast-track reforms to Australia's childcare sector after it was revealed on Tuesday a Melbourne carer was charged with more than 70 sex offences.
Joshua Dale Brown allegedly abused eight children aged under two at a Point Cook facility in the city's southwest from April 2022 to January 2023.
The 26-year-old, who had a valid working with children clearance, was not known to police or subject to any complaints before his arrest in May.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called on the federal government in 2015 to "facilitate a national model" for working with children checks.
Robert Fitzgerald, one of five members of the royal commission, said the recommendation remained unfulfilled.
"My view is that is shameful," the now-age discrimination commissioner told AAP.
"Ten years on, that job should have been completed and the fact that it isn't means there are gaps in our child safeguarding regime."
Every state and territory maintains separate working with children schemes with different rules and requirements.
Victoria, Queensland and NSW have all committed to reviewing or tightening up their regimes.
Uniform schemes would not completely negate the risk of child sexual abuse but would be an important first step, Mr Fitzgerald argued.
A 2022 Victorian ombudsman report exposed "serious flaws" in the state's scheme after former Melbourne City Mission worker Alexander Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2018.
Jones was investigated for multiple alleged sexual offences in NSW but granted a permit in Victoria because his national police check was clean, as he had not been charged.
It remains the case that people under investigation for serious offences can hold a working with children check in Victoria.
Only criminal charges or a regulatory finding can lead to it being revoked.
Strengthening working with children checks will also be discussed at a meeting of state and federal attorneys-general in August.
Victoria's Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn said national reform work was "frustratingly slow".
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare described the system as complicated but conceded the reforms have taken "too bloody long".
Fellow senior frontbencher Clare O'Neil said she didn't have a good answer for why the royal commission's recommendations had been left on the shelf.
"A lot of these predators would pass a working with children check," she said.
The crisis has also cast a spotlight on educator-to-child ratios across the country.
The ratios do not require more than one carer to be around a child or group at any given time, unlike the Netherlands' "four eyes" principle.
A father whose two children attended the Point Cook childcare centre wants CCTV installed throughout the facility and questioned the lack of staff supervision.
"There should also be two people there at all times," said Satbir, who didn't want his surname included.
NSW has flagged a trial of CCTV cameras in centres, while an urgent Victorian review is looking at making the technology mandatory.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
A former royal commissioner has rebuked governments for dragging their feet on creating a national regime for working with children checks.
State and federal ministers have been scrambling to fast-track reforms to Australia's childcare sector after it was revealed on Tuesday a Melbourne carer was charged with more than 70 sex offences.
Joshua Dale Brown allegedly abused eight children aged under two at a Point Cook facility in the city's southwest from April 2022 to January 2023.
The 26-year-old, who had a valid working with children clearance, was not known to police or subject to any complaints before his arrest in May.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called on the federal government in 2015 to "facilitate a national model" for working with children checks.
Robert Fitzgerald, one of five members of the royal commission, said the recommendation remained unfulfilled.
"My view is that is shameful," the now-age discrimination commissioner told AAP.
"Ten years on, that job should have been completed and the fact that it isn't means there are gaps in our child safeguarding regime."
Every state and territory maintains separate working with children schemes with different rules and requirements.
Victoria, Queensland and NSW have all committed to reviewing or tightening up their regimes.
Uniform schemes would not completely negate the risk of child sexual abuse but would be an important first step, Mr Fitzgerald argued.
A 2022 Victorian ombudsman report exposed "serious flaws" in the state's scheme after former Melbourne City Mission worker Alexander Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2018.
Jones was investigated for multiple alleged sexual offences in NSW but granted a permit in Victoria because his national police check was clean, as he had not been charged.
It remains the case that people under investigation for serious offences can hold a working with children check in Victoria.
Only criminal charges or a regulatory finding can lead to it being revoked.
Strengthening working with children checks will also be discussed at a meeting of state and federal attorneys-general in August.
Victoria's Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn said national reform work was "frustratingly slow".
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare described the system as complicated but conceded the reforms have taken "too bloody long".
Fellow senior frontbencher Clare O'Neil said she didn't have a good answer for why the royal commission's recommendations had been left on the shelf.
"A lot of these predators would pass a working with children check," she said.
The crisis has also cast a spotlight on educator-to-child ratios across the country.
The ratios do not require more than one carer to be around a child or group at any given time, unlike the Netherlands' "four eyes" principle.
A father whose two children attended the Point Cook childcare centre wants CCTV installed throughout the facility and questioned the lack of staff supervision.
"There should also be two people there at all times," said Satbir, who didn't want his surname included.
NSW has flagged a trial of CCTV cameras in centres, while an urgent Victorian review is looking at making the technology mandatory.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
A former royal commissioner has rebuked governments for dragging their feet on creating a national regime for working with children checks.
State and federal ministers have been scrambling to fast-track reforms to Australia's childcare sector after it was revealed on Tuesday a Melbourne carer was charged with more than 70 sex offences.
Joshua Dale Brown allegedly abused eight children aged under two at a Point Cook facility in the city's southwest from April 2022 to January 2023.
The 26-year-old, who had a valid working with children clearance, was not known to police or subject to any complaints before his arrest in May.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse called on the federal government in 2015 to "facilitate a national model" for working with children checks.
Robert Fitzgerald, one of five members of the royal commission, said the recommendation remained unfulfilled.
"My view is that is shameful," the now-age discrimination commissioner told AAP.
"Ten years on, that job should have been completed and the fact that it isn't means there are gaps in our child safeguarding regime."
Every state and territory maintains separate working with children schemes with different rules and requirements.
Victoria, Queensland and NSW have all committed to reviewing or tightening up their regimes.
Uniform schemes would not completely negate the risk of child sexual abuse but would be an important first step, Mr Fitzgerald argued.
A 2022 Victorian ombudsman report exposed "serious flaws" in the state's scheme after former Melbourne City Mission worker Alexander Jones was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in 2018.
Jones was investigated for multiple alleged sexual offences in NSW but granted a permit in Victoria because his national police check was clean, as he had not been charged.
It remains the case that people under investigation for serious offences can hold a working with children check in Victoria.
Only criminal charges or a regulatory finding can lead to it being revoked.
Strengthening working with children checks will also be discussed at a meeting of state and federal attorneys-general in August.
Victoria's Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn said national reform work was "frustratingly slow".
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare described the system as complicated but conceded the reforms have taken "too bloody long".
Fellow senior frontbencher Clare O'Neil said she didn't have a good answer for why the royal commission's recommendations had been left on the shelf.
"A lot of these predators would pass a working with children check," she said.
The crisis has also cast a spotlight on educator-to-child ratios across the country.
The ratios do not require more than one carer to be around a child or group at any given time, unlike the Netherlands' "four eyes" principle.
A father whose two children attended the Point Cook childcare centre wants CCTV installed throughout the facility and questioned the lack of staff supervision.
"There should also be two people there at all times," said Satbir, who didn't want his surname included.
NSW has flagged a trial of CCTV cameras in centres, while an urgent Victorian review is looking at making the technology mandatory.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
26 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Childcare abuse allegations prompt wider risk warning
The case of a childcare worker accused of serially abusing infants has ignited widespread alarm, but a leading voice has issued a stark reminder of the risks that exist far beyond the confines of daycare. A national debate has raged since Tuesday when it emerged Joshua Dale Brown was charged with more than 70 sex offences. The 26-year-old, who worked at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne from 2017 to 2025, has been accused of abusing eight children aged under two at a Point Cook facility. It is estimated at least one sexual misconduct report comes from Australian childcare centres each day on average. Earlier in the week, after the allegations against Brown came to light, Education Minister Jason Clare said he believed pedophiles were targeting childcare centres. But Victoria's acting principal commissioner for children and young people said "sadly" child abuse occurred in many different settings. "If we're going to really make a shift on child safety and prevention of abuse, we really have to be open to having hard discussions about where abuse happens and who harms children and the trust that they gain," Meena Singh told AAP. In Victoria, organisations that work with children must notify the Commission for Children and Young People of alleged abuse by staff and volunteers under the state's reportable conduct scheme. The commission's data shows 28 per cent of reportable allegations in 2023/24 were connected to early childhood education options such as long day care, preschool or kindergarten and outside-school-hours care. Schools and other education settings were responsible for 40 per cent, and another 21 per cent came from out-of-home care, which includes residential, kinship and foster care. Almost one in three claims were substantiated. Sexual misconduct and sexual offence allegations were easily the most common in education settings, followed by early childhood education and out-of-home care (72). Ms Singh said considerations around the safety of children and young people were not always "front and centre" for some organisations. "When allegations come up, they're not being acted upon or there is delays," she said. Ms Singh backed a push to move towards a national working with children clearance regime and the introduction of a national childcare sector regulator, declaring "gaps" remain. "Not every state or territory has child safe conduct standards or a reportable scheme," she said. The allegations against Brown, who was not subject to any complaints before his arrest, has spawned a raft of childcare reform promises from federal and state governments. Federal measures include legislation to cut funding to childcare providers flouting safety and quality obligations, a register of early early educators and shortening the mandatory reporting of abuse complaints from seven days to 24 hours. NSW will block appeals against working-with-children-check denials and trial CCTV in facilities, while Victoria is considering making the technology mandatory and fast-tracking a ban on phone use in centres. Queensland has launched an inquiry into its regime for working with children checks. Meanwhile, precautionary testing for sexually transmitted infections is continuing on 1200 children as authorities review records following reports the alleged pedophile may have worked in the sector longer than first thought. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Sydney Morning Herald
4 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Melbourne synagogue hit by arson attack, scuffles in CBD
Police are investigating an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue carried out while about 20 people, including children, were having a Shabbat dinner inside the place of worship. The latest anti-semitic attack punctuated what appeared to be a coordinated night of anti-Israel protests in central Melbourne which has left Jewish people fearing for their safety. Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Phillip Zajac told this masthead that a lone arsonist used fuel to torch the front doors of the East Melbourne Synagogue in Albert Street, East Melbourne at about 8pm. A local fire brigade responded quickly and contained the fire, which caused only superficial damage to the blue stone building and heavy timber doors. The attack was captured on CCTV. Zajac said the attack needed to be quickly condemned by Premier Jacinta Allan and the perpetrator identified and prosecuted. 'I don't know what the government can do but there have to be consequences for people who do things like this,' he said. 'Lighting a place of worship is just dreadful. 'The Premier needs to come out with a strong statement condemning this. We expect her to shout it from the rooftops that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and the perpetrator will be found and will face charges. 'A place of worship has got nothing to do with the Middle East dispute. This has really gotten to me. I don't know what to say. 'The attack follows the firebombing last December which gutted the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea. No charges have been laid in that attack despite Victorian and federal police launching a joint taskforce investigation into the suspected terror attack.
The Age
4 hours ago
- The Age
Melbourne synagogue hit by arson attack, scuffles in CBD
Police are investigating an arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue carried out while about 20 people, including children, were having a Shabbat dinner inside the place of worship. The latest anti-semitic attack punctuated what appeared to be a coordinated night of anti-Israel protests in central Melbourne which has left Jewish people fearing for their safety. Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Phillip Zajac told this masthead that a lone arsonist used fuel to torch the front doors of the East Melbourne Synagogue in Albert Street, East Melbourne at about 8pm. A local fire brigade responded quickly and contained the fire, which caused only superficial damage to the blue stone building and heavy timber doors. The attack was captured on CCTV. Zajac said the attack needed to be quickly condemned by Premier Jacinta Allan and the perpetrator identified and prosecuted. 'I don't know what the government can do but there have to be consequences for people who do things like this,' he said. 'Lighting a place of worship is just dreadful. 'The Premier needs to come out with a strong statement condemning this. We expect her to shout it from the rooftops that this behaviour is totally unacceptable and the perpetrator will be found and will face charges. 'A place of worship has got nothing to do with the Middle East dispute. This has really gotten to me. I don't know what to say. 'The attack follows the firebombing last December which gutted the Adass Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea. No charges have been laid in that attack despite Victorian and federal police launching a joint taskforce investigation into the suspected terror attack.
